Meeting to oppose Ardlethan Tin Mine "mega dump" held at Griffith Exies Club

Renee Doyle, president of activist group Don't Rubbish the Riverina it was “unacceptable” to dump Sydney’s rubbish in the middle of Australia’s food bowl.

“The proposed site is 3.5 kilometres away from Ardlethan,” Mrs Doyle said.

“There are crops and livestock within 500 metres of the landfill areas.

“This proposal provides a direct pathway to introduce pests, pathogens, chemicals and weeds straight into the Riverina.”

Ms Doyle spoke about a similar project at Tarago, near Goulburn. The Woodlawn Mine, about 4.5 kilometres from Tarago, was converted into landfill and began operation in 2004.

“Neighbours say the smell has become a ‘heavy burden’,” Mrs Doyle said.

“People from Goulburn-Mulwaree Shire told me there had been a significant impact on the town from odour and the company did not honour their commitments. At Woodlawn they put their waste in a hole in the ground on the other side of a ridge. At Ardlethan they want to build a 300-metre high mountain of rubbish above the town.”

David Ward, a geologist for Thomson Resources, told the meeting Ardlethan was a significant tin deposit for the world “and Australian Tin Resources (ATR) want to put rubbish on it”.

“The biggest tin deposit in Australia is at Ardlethan and it’s one-in-a-million,” Mr Ward said.

“Tin has replaced lead in solder used in electronics such as the iPhone which contains about one gram of tin.”

When asked why Thomson Resources didn’t offer to buy the mine, Mr Ward said there was an existing environmental liability with the presence of arsenic and sulphuric acid.

“(ATR are) trying to get out of scary environmental liabilities by covering it in waste,” Mr Ward said.

Mrs Doyle agreed with Mr Ward’s assessment.

“The only reason they want to use the site as landfill is so two men can get out of their obligation to rehabilitate the site,” Mrs Doyle said.